6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
In this sequel to David Cronenberg's original classic, a corrupt, power-crazed police official has high ambitions and plans to use the telepathic power of Scanners to achieve his goal. With the aid of a scientist and a new drug, he believes he can control their minds to do his bidding, but a rogue Scanner has other plans.
Starring: David Hewlett, Deborah Raffin, Yvan Ponton, Isabelle Mejias, Tom ButlerHorror | 100% |
Holiday | Insignificant |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Note: This film is currently available only in the double feature Scanners II: The New
Order / Scanners III: The Takeover.
David Cronenberg wasn’t quite yet “David Cronenberg” when he made the original Scanners in 1981 (currently
available on Blu-ray only on a number of import releases, including this United Kingdom version, a German version, and this Japanese version). But Scanners was the first major
mainstream
success Cronenberg experienced, and it introduced many viewers to the deliberately skewed and often disturbing
vision of
this future auteur. My hunch is that this early in Cronenberg’s career, he simply didn’t have the clout to
effectively
control his own creation, and so some decidedly un-Cronenbergian talents came along to offer two unrelated (either to
the original or frankly to each other) sequels. Neither film has Cronenberg’s sensibility, nor the flash and flair that
Cronenberg regularly brings to his projects. Scanners II: The New Order is marginally better than Scanners
III: The Takeover (which also had the alternate title of Scanner Force), but its an incremental difference at
best. Still, as with virtually every horror film that has appeared since the dawn of time, both of these films have
attained a
certain cult status with some viewers, and Scream Factory has now released both of them on a double feature Blu-ray,
a
bare bones release that contains no supplements or even any menu choices other than the option of which film to play.
Scanners II: The New Order is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory (an imprint of Shout! Factory) with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The elements utilized for this high definition presentation are in rather good shape, with very little overt damage to report. However, the overall look here is very soft, and colors are often fairly anemic. Fine detail really only approaches acceptable levels in some extreme close-ups. Contrast is rather variable and there is a lack of pleasing shadow detail, especially noticeable since so much of the film takes place in shaded environments. There are a couple of minor issues of mosquito noise, but nothing like what's on display in Scanners III: The Takeover.
Scanners II: The New Order's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix boasts really good fidelity but no overly discernable stereo separation. The film is graced by some great ooey gooey sound effects when heads up and explode, and the score, while dated, also sounds fine. Dialogue comes through loud and clear and is well prioritized in a mix that often has quite a few foley effects competing for attention.
No supplements are offered on this Blu-ray disc.
Scanners II: The New Order has a few moments of lunatic fun scattered throughout its running time, but overall it's a pretty tired and over obvious attempt to cash in on the Cronenberg progenitor. Trujillo is a real standout here as the manic Drak, but the rest of the cast tends to look like their heads are about to explode due to the horrible dialogue and predictable plot machinations.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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